New hotel review website Oyster sends writers undercover to deliver honest opinions & property photos

Do you ever read an online hotel review and question the sincerity of the person who wrote it? Was their glowing review genuine or was it influenced by a comped stay or a PR person with good writing skills? Or maybe you look at hotel photos and wonder how true to life they are? All my second guesses might be a little bit more analytical than they need to be, but I’d be willing to bet I’m not alone in my doubts. So it was with open ears (and eyes) that I took a look at the new Oyster Hotel Reviews website that launched Monday.

The name might be reminiscent of London’s transportation card or even a flip cellphone, but the name actually comes from the shellfish. Chief Executive Elie Seidman said, “The sensual oyster holds in it the potential to discover a beautiful pearl. But not every oyster has a pearl. Finding the right hotel can be a struggle, but at Oyster Hotel Reviews our hotel reviews give you the “raw” truth — independent reporting and honest, undoctored hotel photography — to make it easy to find what you’re really looking for.”

And that’s exactly what’s so appealing about this latest hotel review site to hit the online travelsphere — its transparency. Hotel reviews on Oyster are written by journalists who are undercover, no comps or incentives allowed. They are privately funded and pay for all of the writers’ travel expenses. On top of that, they take hundreds of photos from each property — and don’t airbrush out any power lines — what you see is what you get. (That said, the photos are still stunning and thankfully taken while the beds are made.)

Right now Oyster launched with 450 hotel reviews in Aruba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Miami, with New York and Las Vegas coming soon. Seidman said the Vegas package would be ready by mid-July, “We’ve already done all the reviews/visits and are just putting the finishing touches on it.”

Seidman added that Oyster is expecting Scottsdale/Phoenix, Honolulu, Maui, Los Angeles and San Francisco to be completed either before the end of the year or by early Q1.

I particularly like the website’s easy navigation. When I had a look at Jamaica — a place I’ve never visited before — there were options for the best romantic hotels, best luxury hotels and best family friendly hotels front and center. I was also amazed at how long the reviews are. These are not just two paragraphs with a star rating. The writers go in depth on categories such as Scene, Location, Service, Rooms, Beach (as was the case with Geejam in Jamaica), Cleanliness, Food, Family and more. They also have a Pros and Cons section to get a quick summary of the place.

Tip: If you don’t have time to read the review, just scroll down to the bottom of the hotel listing and read “The Bottom Line” (also found on the main destination page next to the hotel name). And of course you could simply look at the photos.

Note: When I was checking out the photos for Geejam in Jamaica, I could flip through the selected 11 photos quite easily and they were more than enough for me to make an opinion about the hotel. But when I tried to view all photos, I couldn’t load the page. (I was on perfectly good and strong home WiFi). But when I clicked on the photos tab on the hotel review page, they loaded just fine.

Online booking? Oyster is not a booking site, but it does list prices for the hotels and gives you the option of connecting to Hotels.com, Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity if you wish. Seidman said, “We won’t partner with a specific one because our desire is to provide our readers with the best information regardless of where it comes from.”

How honest are they? No one wants to go hunting for bad hotel reviews, but I did want to keep the site’s honesty in check. In the Aruba section I found a three-star (out of five) review for Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort Aruba - Beach Resort & Casino. It might have received a fourth star if not for the service. And if the following account doesn’t scream honest, I don’t know what does:

“Upon arrival, I dragged my bags through the main entrance while a team of bellmen sat idly nearby. I waited to check in for more than 30 minutes in the lobby, which was not air-conditioned. After I spent another 10 minutes filling out paperwork, I was instructed to show myself to the room. So I schlepped my bags in the hot sun all the way to the Curacao tower, the furthest building on the property.”

Sorry Dipayan, for a minute I thought you had a dream job, but maybe not on every day.

— Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel & Deal blogger

[Image: Screenshot of website courtesy of Oyster]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 4:51 pm by Jen Leo and is filed under Family & Kids, Honeymoon, Spa & Romance, Hotels, Islands & Beaches, Latin America & Caribbean, Luxury Travel, News, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.